Recent videos of influencer and streamer Jack Doherty’s are like onions, packed with layers upon layers of new aggravating, idiotic behavior. Doherty was recently live-streaming while driving his McLaren in the rain, checking his phone and responding to viewers when he lost control and crashed into a guardrail. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt, but Doherty was booted from his streaming platform, Kick, for violating the platform’s safety terms.
The footage brings up several especially frustrating points. For starters, Doherty was driving a powerful supercar, which on its own commands all of one’s attention—yes, even with all the safety nannies on. Two, it’s raining, so even more reason to be extra careful and aware. Three, he’s texting, or whatever he’s doing on his device. That’s just bafflingly idiotic by itself. On top of that, he’s having his cameraman/passenger livestream it as if showing off his lack of judgment to his entire audience. You can hear the engine’s revs spike as he loses control, begins hydroplaning, and hits the guardrail.
However, after he crashes, rather than abandon the whole recording or streaming act to see if his buddy in the passenger seat is OK, he continues to stream his panic as bystanders rush to help. He even asks one of the rescuers to hold his phone and record him being helped out of the window. Once free from the car, he continues streaming the aftermath, complaining about the damage to his car while his passenger remains in the mangled McLaren, holding his arm and bleeding from his head. He does ask his friend, “Yo, Michael, you good?” but that’s about the extent of his concern. Once Michael was helped out of the car, Doherty even asked him to hold the phone and stream, despite clearly having a head injury.
It isn’t surprising that Kick banned Doherty from its platform. Part of Kick’s community guidelines read: “Be Mindful of Safety: Prioritize your safety and the safety of those around you by avoiding dangerous behaviour.” Clearly, Doherty failed to follow that guideline by driving while texting, endangered other drivers while doing it, drew a ton of negative media attention, and potentially broke the law (it’s unclear if he was speeding at the time of the crash or was ticketed) all while live-streaming on Kick.
I hope Doherty’s response on X is sincere. “I’m so sorry Michael for putting you thru that. Thank you to all the first responders and everyone who helped us get out of the car. This could’ve been so much worse and it’s a huge learning lesson.”
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